Continued: Vikings' coaching search is on

Offensively, Peterson will be 29 in April. He’s one of eight core starters returning, including receivers Cordarrelle Patterson and Greg Jennings, tackles Matt Kalil and Phil Loadholt, center John Sullivan, tight end Kyle Rudolph and fullback Jerome Felton. Only Jennings will be over 30.

Spielman sounded intrigued by the offensive scheme former Oregon coach and first-year Eagles coach Chip Kelly brought to the NFL.

“Usually, [philosophies] have trickled down, where the NFL systems kind of went down to college,” Spielman said. “Now, it seems with the type of athletes coming out in the draft that it’s trickling up to the NFL. Like the Philadelphia Eagles, which is a little bit of a spread offense, yet they had the leading rusher in the league [LeSean McCoy]. I’m looking forward to getting educated as well about a lot of different philosophies.”

Helping Peterson

Of course, the success of any offensive system depends on Spielman and his new hire solidifying the unsettled situation at quarterback.

“To me, I’d want either a head coach or an offensive coordinator who believes in spreading the ball around because we do have a lot of weapons on offense,” receiver Jarius Wright said. “I’d almost like to get a defensive-minded coach because you have to play tough defense to have a chance in the NFL. Then get an offensive coordinator who believes in passing the ball as well as running. If we can ever get the passing part going, teams would never be able to stop Adrian.”

From a personality standpoint, many players are concerned because Frazier had such a calm but firm demeanor and was receptive to the needs of his players.

“Yeah, it’s a nervous time,” Robison said. “Change can always be good. But there’s also a saying that goes around, too. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side. I guess we’ll find out.”